Ebola and Mining: The need for action

The African continent is rich in mineral reserves, and a
great deal of interest has been generated in Australian companies wishing to
invest, explore and mine there.

Interest in the prospect of investing in Africa has grown over
the past five years to a reported $686 billion worth of discoveries across the
continent with Australian involvement.

The Africa Downunder Conference in Perth focussed on the
upturn in sentiment for investment there, however a discussion about the recent
Ebola outbreak in western Africa highlighted one of the key concerns in terms
of making positive investments in the region: Stability.

Dr David Heymann, director and head of global health
security at the British policy think tank Chatham House, addressed the Perth
conference on the subject of Ebola with some positive, albeit grisly news.

Heymann said that a robust response was needed to prevent
the spread of the disease, and despite the difficulties with a wide area distribution
through Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, he was “fairly certain that it will
be contained and it will stop spreading.”

“It’s too virulent, it kills people too rapidly and it’s
very easy then to get rid of,” he said.

The Ebola outbreak in western Africa has caused a number of
mining operations to suspend production and evacuate staff, however six
companies have been involved in the emerging infectious diseases risk
mitigation project (IDRAM) funded by USAID.

Field work on the IDRAM Initiative started in May 2014 and
was coordinated by the International SOS group, which provided the interface
between mining companies, provincial health authorities, the University of
Lubumbashi and medical teams, to test a specially developed tool kit to help
counter tropical disease such as Ebola and their threat to mining-based
communities.

The African-Australian Mining Industry Group chairman Bill
Turner said infectious disease risks in Africa posed unique legal and
logistical challenges to Australian companies and their directors, in providing
a safe and healthy workplace.

“A recent briefing note provided by Clayton Utz, tells us
that possible contraction by staff of the Ebola virus is a reasonably
foreseeable risk for many, although particular circumstances will significantly
affect the likelihood of that occurring,” Turner said, in a joint statement
with conference convenor Bill Repard.

“Even where the risk may be remote for a particular
operation, the consequences are almost always catastrophic.

“The briefing note points to the fact that Australian mining
industry companies in Africa must carefully assess whether they require, and
have in place, appropriate preventative and risk management measures tailored
to address the particular risks to their workforce posed by the work
environment and disease(s) concerns.

According to Clayton Utz, there is also risk of substantial penalties
to apply to Australian companies and directors who fail to adequately assess
the risks and take appropriate precautions.

Where failure to act on disease outbreak involved a risk of
death, as with Ebola, maximum penalties were up to $600,000 for individuals and
$3 million for companies, with up to five years imprisonment in more extreme
cases.

The Ebola virus outbreak was confirmed in March 2014, and to
date has killed 1900 people.

The outbreak began in Guinea, and spread to Sierra Leone by
June, and soon after the Liberian Government declared a state of national
emergency.

Ebola haemorrhagic fever is one of the deadliest human
diseases known, with a fatality rate of between 50 and 60 per cent, and is
spread by contact through bodily fluids.

The disease causes blood to haemorrhage from the body, and
kills victims within days of diagnosis.

Research has shown the virus can be carried by bats and chimpanzees,
both of which are hunted for meat.

The potential cost to mining companies from this and other
diseases, through damage to workforce numbers, work stoppages and mine closures
was highlighted by Dr Heymann, who said the key to combating such outbreaks is
through partnerships between mining companies, communities and governments.

“I can assure you this is the time to take this to heart,
because there will always be a risk from infectious diseases,” he said.

“While the world is focused on West Africa, another
emergence occurred of Ebola in DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo), infections
jump from animals to humans regularly, and there is always a need to consider
emerging infectious diseases in business.

“In many cases mining companies think that they are being
asked to do everything and the government does very little, part of that is
because mining companies do not spend enough time engaging local, regional, and
national governments in being partners, and understanding that it can't be done
alone.

“And episodes such as occurring now in West Africa can be
prevented from occurring in the future.

“What there is not a clear understanding of, is what some
people call black swan events — these are emerging infections which can
decimate local populations, decimate the workforce, because they have a direct
impact on the workforce, but also have an major indirect impact, because all of
the logistics around the mining company collapse.”

Heymann said that business is completely on hold in the
region until the outbreak can be contained, and that all workers are at risk
from the virus.

“It’s important mining companies understand that it’s not
only the nationals that can be at risk but the expatriate workers, they can be
out in the forest, and doing things similar to what nationals are doing and become
infected with the disease,” he said.

“They won't be able to attract people who can fly in and fly
out, they have to create a safe environment.”

Heymann also indicated the longer reaching cost for business
and the economy in developing countries such as Sierra Leone, Uganda and Guinea.

“As long as this virus is there, because there has been such
a lack of trust by people in their governments, this will continue to shut down
all infrastructure until the outbreaks are ended,” he said.

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